Today in History

Published 8:11 am Tuesday, September 15, 2020

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, Sept. 15, the 259th day of 2020. There are 107 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On September 15, 1963, four Black girls were killed when a bomb went off during Sunday services at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. (Three Ku Klux Klansmen were eventually convicted for their roles in the blast.)

On this date:

In 1776, British forces occupied New York City during the American Revolution.

In 1890, English mystery writer Agatha Christie was born in Torquay.

In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws deprived German Jews of their citizenship.

In 1940, during the World War II Battle of Britain, the tide turned as the Royal Air Force inflicted heavy losses upon the Luftwaffe.

In 1942, during World War II, the aircraft carrier USS Wasp was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine; the U.S. Navy ended up sinking the badly damaged vessel.

In 1959, Nikita Khrushchev became the first Soviet head of state to visit the United States as he arrived at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington.

In 1972, a federal grand jury in Washington indicted seven men in connection with the Watergate break-in.

In 1981, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to approve the Supreme Court nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor.

In 1982, the first edition of USA Today was published.

In 1985, Nike began selling its “Air Jordan 1” sneaker.

In 2001, President George W. Bush ordered U.S. troops to get ready for war and braced Americans for a long, difficult assault against terrorists to avenge the Sept. 11 attack. Beleaguered Afghans streamed out of Kabul, fearing a U.S. military strike against Taliban rulers harboring Osama bin Laden.

In 2008, on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 504.48, or 4.42 percent, to 10,917.51 while oil closed below $100 a barrel for the first time in six months amid upheaval in the financial industry as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection and Merrill Lynch & Co. was sold to Bank of America.

Ten years ago: A mortar attack by Palestinian militants and airstrikes by Israel provided a grim backdrop as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ended their latest round of peace talks still divided on major issues.

Five years ago: Hungary sealed off its border with Serbia with massive coils of barbed wire and began detaining migrants trying to use the country as a gateway to Western Europe, harsh new measures that left thousands of frustrated asylum-seekers piled up on the Serbian side of the border. Malcolm Turnbull was sworn in as the new prime minister of Australia after his conservative Liberal Party colleagues voted for him to replace Tony Abbott as the nation’s leader.

One year ago: Purdue Pharma, the company that made billions selling the prescription painkiller OxyContin, filed for bankruptcy in White Plains, N.Y., days after reaching a tentative settlement with many of the state and local governments that had sued the company over the toll of opioids. Ric Ocasek, the 75-year-old frontman for the rock band The Cars, died in New York of heart disease worsened by emphysema. Veteran Broadway actress Phyllis Newman, who was the first woman to host “The Tonight Show,” died in New York at the age of 86.

Today’s Birthdays: Comedian Norm Crosby is 93. Actor Henry Darrow is 87. Baseball Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry is 82. Actor Carmen Maura is 75. Writer-director Ron Shelton is 75. Actor Tommy Lee Jones is 74. Movie director Oliver Stone is 74. Rock musician Kelly Keagy (Night Ranger) is 68. Actor Barry Shabaka Henley is 66. Director Pawel Pawlikowski is 63. Rock musician Mitch Dorge (Crash Test Dummies) is 60. Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino is 59. Actor Danny Nucci is 52. Rap DJ Kay Gee is 51. Actor Josh Charles is 49. Singer Ivette Sosa (Eden’s Crush) is 44. Actor Tom Hardy is 43. Actor Marisa Ramirez is 43. Pop-rock musician Zach Filkins (OneRepublic) is 42. Actor Dave Annable is 41. Actor Amy Davidson is 41. Britain’s Prince Harry is 36. TV personality Heidi Montag is 34. Actor Kate Mansi is 33.